This is a story about passion. The word chihayafuru literally means passionate. It's a story about a obscurely niche card game and its society with its 3 main characters Chihaya, Arata, and Taichi who all passionately love the game.
What I love about this anime is how it is able to show how much effort and time die-hard Karuta players put into this game and about how a dying society is knitted up together in order to keep the game they love alive. After watching this anime, I've watched a few documentaries about how real Karuta players live, and unlike most sports anime, this anime is actually realistic about the dilemmas faced by competitive Karuta players such as the amount of time, effort, and money they put into playing this game. And all our main characters face these problems; Chihaya is worried about her future and school because Karuta is the only thing she is good at and in the Karuta world, professional players aren't payed. The antagonist, Shinobu, also faces this dilemma as she is aiming to be the first full time and paid professional Karuta player because Karuta is the only thing she knew since childhood.
Another amazing thing about this game is how it develops its characters. Each character has a defining personality. A lot of anime antagonists are usually just your casual evil-personified character. But in Chihayafuru, each character(including those antagonists) has an understandable cause, a belief, and a unique playing style which makes you genuinely cheer for them. The way the match is played is also so unpredictable that you just don't know who is going to win.
The animation, direction, and sound is also critical in how they choreograph this card game. I mean, its a card game, it should be boring. But it is one of, if not the most, entertaining sports anime I've ever watched. The matches keeps you on your toes. The timing of flash sequences, sound, and the tense atmosphere it creates is just spot on. Kudos to Madhouse.
All in all this is a great sports anime. It gives an amazing perspective of the meaning of passion. It conveys a great message about doing what you love despite the obstacles it presents.
